Phone deals for tourist in Denmark

When you are visiting Denmark as a tourist, you won’t be able to get a subscription for your mobile phone. However, you can get a prepaid deal at most providers.

The deals are somewhat more expensive than the subscriptions, but you’ll get a Danish SIM card easily.

The cost for data usage is particularly high, and often this is the most important reason for tourists to look for a Danish SIM card. However, if you have a subscription from another EU-country, data might be included in Denmark.

Will my phone work with a Danish SIM card?

Normally, yes. In most of Europe the same frequencies are used. The Danish networks are using the following technology:

GSM/GPRS/EDGE(2G)
UMTS(3G)
HDSPA (Turbo 3G)
LTE(4G)

The frequencies are the same as in the rest of Europe.

GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 900/1800 MHz
UMTS/HSPA+: 900/2100 MHz
LTE: 800/1800/2600 MHz

Usually, you will be able to use your phone in Denmark – even if your home country uses different frequencies. However, in rare cases, phones don’t work in Europe when bought in other countries outside Europe. In a lot of cases you won’t be able to catch all the frequencies, and therefore you’ll be having worse coverage than you should.

The coverage in Denmark is quite good compared to the rest of the world. Usually, you won’t experience any problem calling or texting friends when you’re in the cities, unless you are at a place with extraordinary many people gathered at the same time – e.g. a concert. You may now and then experience slow data connection, but we do have quite good speeds at most places.

If you buy a prepaid deal, you should expect either a combined standard(mini) and micro SIM card, or a standard(mini) SIM-card with the deal if nothing else is specified. If you need a micro SIM card, we strongly recommend you make sure that’s included. If you need a nano SIM card, it might be difficult to get a prepaid deal since it’s certainly not included as a standard in the deals. If you go to the providers shops, you might be able to get a prepaid deal with a nano SIM card though.

Be sure your phone isn’t SIM locked. That might be the case if you’ve bought it through your service provider. If in doubt, you can contact your provider, and often they’ll help you unlock it.

Most prepaid plans for phones does not have good deals for data ussage – Lebara will normally have some good deals though. Apart from that, Oister has a good prepaid deal for data, but it’s for mobile broadband, and should only work on tablet and in equipment for mobile broadband.

How do I get a prepaid deal?

The prepaid deal is also know as the pay-as-you-go deal. You buy prepaid deals in some of the supermarkets, the small shops or in the service providers own shops (bigger cities only). First, you need to buy a package with a SIM card included. After you’ve bought the SIM card, you only need to buy credit when you don’t have any more left. You can buy credit online at the service provider’s website, or you can buy credit the same places where you can buy the SIM card.

Find the nearest mobile service provider shop:

TDC

Telenor (the light blue icons are Telenor’s own shops, grey icons are Føtex and dark blue is Bilka – Føtex and Bilka are Danish supermarket chains with an electronic department)

Telia (lilac icons are Telia’s own shops, while the blue icons are other shops selling Telia subscriptions)

Lebara – scroll a bit down to see the shops that sells Lebara – you can also order online but you will need a Danish address. If you need help with finding the right Sim-card size, choosing the right product or anything else, you might want to go to one of the big supermarkets with electronics departments. Computer City, Elgiganten and Experten only sells electronics equipment, and should always be able to give good service. Bilka always has a big electronic department with specialized employees, and many Føtex and Kvickly shops also has electronic departments with good service, but it’s not guaranteed. Blue city and Fotokæden are electronics shops, but Blue city mainly focus on films and Fotokæden on photography, and while you will usually get good service there, it is not a sure thing.

Further tourist information

For further information for tourists we recommend Visit Denmark. It’s the official Danish site for tourists, with a lot of information and inspiration when you’re going to Denmark.

If you’re looking for a guide for broadband access in Denmark, we’ve also written a guide for broadband as a tourist on Bredbaandsmatch.dk